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TRIBUNE: Moody’s Now Challenges Govt Over Debt Ratios

Posted on July 13, 2016

(Neil Hartnell / TRIBINE) Moody’s is now questioning another key fiscal projection by Prime Minister Perry Christie’s government, warning that the Bahamas’ uncertain outlook makes it hard to forecast how high - and when - the debt-to-GDP ratio will peak.

The rating agency, which is threatening to potentially downgrade the Bahamas’ sovereign creditworthiness to ‘junk’ status by end-August, also joined calls for the Government to “rein in” its spending.

Providing more detail on the areas it will assess to determine if another Bahamas downgrade is warranted, the New York-based credit rating agency also plans to examine whether further revenue measures are needed to boost fiscal consolidation.

Moody’s latest issues and concerns were detailed in a July 5, 2016, missive released to the international capital markets some four days after announcing it was placing the Bahamas’ sovereign rating under a two-month review.